What's for dinner tonight - 06/14

[Jikoni]

Thanks

GB posted a recipe on here which I'm sure is good. I don't have a written recipe that I follow so his would be a good place to start.

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f20/penne-ala-vodka-5063.html?highlight=penne+vodka

What I do is crush half the tomatoes and then dice the other half so you get the contrast in textures. I also add fresh thyme because I like the flavor of thyme and tomato. For the zucchini, just add it when the sauce is simmering. The zucchini should take about 5-6 minutes to cook, depending on the texture you want. I like the zucchini al dente, not completely soft. When you serve it, just drizzle your highest quality extra virgin olive oil over the pasta.

Arigato gozimasu. Will try it. Sounds really tasty.

 

[Snoop Puss]

Have just made an Alsace onion tart for dinner. Which gave me a good excuse to make jam tarts with the leftover pastry. Nobody would make pastry just for jam tarts and they don't qualify by any stretch of the imagination as "cuisine". But they're not bad. Remind me of being five years old.

 

[Ishbel]

My granny used to make the best jam tarts in the world. She used home-made jams and lemon curd.... YUM!

 

[Snoop Puss]

Ishbel, the plate disappeared in no time. The pastry recipe couldn't possibly be easier and is so light. Real melt in the mouth stuff. No idea why it works so well as it breaks lots of rules: made in a food processor, no lard (the original recipe calls for lard but I never use lard for anything), rolled out straight away with no resting in the fridge... The dough is surprisingly (alarmingly!) soft but never cracks when you roll it. The original recipe is from Rick Stein but altered to avoid the use of lard. I have a very rich recipe for sweet pastry from a Scottish recipe book, but for most purposes use this:

Place 225 g of flour, large pinch of salt and 130 g of roughly chopped butter straight from the fridge in a food processor. Whizz till evenly mixed and you can't see any lumps of butter. My Magimix goes so fast and the blade is still so sharp that by the time I think it might be done, it doesn't look so much like breadcrumbs as slightly yellow flour. Leave the machine running and pour in 2-3 tablespoons of ice-cold water. Leave the machine running till it forms one or two large lumps in the bowl. Turn onto an extremely well floured surface, knead into a single ball and roll out as required.

I've never made lemon curd tarts before but will definitely give them a go. I love lemon curd...

 

[Ishbel]

I don't use lard nowadays, either, SnoopP. Thanks for that method, I'll certainly give it a go when the weather gets cooler. I'm amazed you cook pastry in the heat of a Spanish summer!!!! I'm a typical red-haired, very fair skinned Scot... If the temperature reaches 65 I think it's too hot!

 

[Snoop Puss]

There's only so much gazpacho and salad you can eat before you need a taste and texture change!

 

[Ishbel]

I know what you mean. I love salads, but by the end of the summer I am glad to be able to start cooking 'cooked' food again!